


Broken Wings

by iselsis



Category: Batman (Comics), Batman - All Media Types
Genre: Accidental Baby Acquisition, Accidental Brother Acquisition, Adoption, Alternate Universe - Different First Meeting, Dick Grayson is Robin, Gen, Homelessness, Hurt Dick Grayson, Hurt/Comfort, Injury, Jason Todd Needs A Hug, Street Rat Jason Todd, Young Jason Todd
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-24
Updated: 2021-01-24
Packaged: 2021-03-16 08:07:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,231
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28953180
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/iselsis/pseuds/iselsis
Summary: Robin is hurt.Jason should justleavebecause it's none of his business what the bats do, or if Robin is going pale and lifeless just like his mom did, or if there's something Jason could do to stop it.Damn it.
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Jason Todd, Jason Todd & Bruce Wayne
Comments: 101
Kudos: 755





	Broken Wings

**Author's Note:**

> *sigh of deep self loathing*  
> Okay, so I have this plan to improve my typing speed so I can write fics faster, yeah? I'm thinking a ten minute timer, 3/400 word ficlet, small emotion, boom, done. 
> 
> I tried that with the last fic I published, and it ended up being forty minute to write 1,400 words.
> 
> Half an hour later, I had another 1,200. 
> 
> If anyone has ideas for something _small_ that they would like to see, please share, because I'm clearly very, _very_ bad at this.
> 
> That being said, enjoy!

There were two rules to survive in Crime Alley: take what you can, and mind your own business.

Robin had clearly taken quite a bit, probably because he hadn’t minded his own business. He was bleeding…bad, from his shoulder, and his skin was pale like heroine.

Robin twitched slightly, the only proof beside the shuddering rise and fall of his chest that he was alive. He wasn’t going to last much longer if that bleeding didn’t stop.

It wasn’t any of Jason’s business, though. He kept his head down and kept walking when he saw the _cops_ , much less the _Bats_. If he got caught with Robin in that state, at _best_ Batman was going to toss him to the cops, at _worst_ , he’d think that Jason had done it.

But Robin was dying.

Robin was going pale and cold, just like Jason’s mom.

Jason twisted his fingers anxiously in the thick material of his hoodie. It was his _favorite_ hoodie, not only because it was the warmest thing he owned and it was almost _December_ , but because it had been the last thing his mom had ever given him.

But Robin was dying.

“Fucking _hell_ ,” Jason grumbled as he pulled his hoodie over his head and knelt in the rooftop gravel beside Robin. “You’d better pay me to launder this!” _Assuming you’re not dead. Please don’t be dead_.

The Bats had always seemed so invulnerable. Sure, Jason had heard about so-and-so’s uncle getting a good shot in once in a while, but that was just someone bragging that the bats would have a shiner. It was nothing like _this_ , what had happened to Robin.

Jason balled the hoody up and held it just over the wound, hovering for one final moment of indecision. The blood…the blood might never wash out. Even if Robin paid him a laundry fee, Jason couldn't really justify spending that money on laundry when his stomach felt like it was eating itself.

Jason blinked fast to push away the tears and pressed down, putting firm pressure on the wound. His fingertips were quickly wet, but the blood didn’t seep much farther. Robin groaned in pain and confusion, and his head tilted toward Jason, but it was impossible to tell if he was actually looking at Jason or not.

“Shut _up_ ,” Jason snapped. “You want someone to _find us_?”

Jason didn’t know where Robin and Batman lived—theories ranged from anywhere to the rafters of city hall to some underground bunker in the sewers—but it was obvious that he _wasn’t_ from Crime Alley.

Robin groaned again, but went still. Like, really, really still.

Jason gasped and let go of the hoodie with one hand to press his fingers to Robin’s throat.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

There was still a pulse.

Jason didn’t know how long he’d been pressing down on Robin’s shoulder—long enough for his arms to go numb—before he heard a small _swoosh_ and the slightest shift of gravel.

Jason snarled and snatched up his tire iron, throwing himself between Robin and—

“Batman,” Jason breathed.

Batman looked from Jason to Robin, then back to Jason.

Oh _shit_.

Jason dropped the tire iron and scrambled out of Batman’s way. There was always that theory about them being vampires, so maybe Robin needed some blood from Batman.

Actually, if they were vampires, he needed to get out of there _now_ because if they needed blood, he was a juice box no one would miss.

Morbid curiosity and a large bit of fear kept him rooted to the spot.

Batman crossed quickly to his bird and knelt at his side, tugging off one of his gloves so he could feel for a pulse. His shoulders eased slightly when he found one, and Jason’s shoulders eased just slightly too. Batman was at least a bit less likely to punch him, or at least not as hard.

Then Batman touched his hoodie, and Jason made an aborted cry of dismay.

Batman turned to him, but Jason flinched and looked down. Batman stared at him for a long time, seeming to really take in Jason’s presence for the first time.

“This is yours?” Batman growled.

Jason nodded quickly before realizing that maybe he shouldn’t have admitted to that. What if Batman thought his hoodie was diseased or something? Actually, with the alleys he slept in, that was a valid concern.

“What are you doing out here so late at night?” Batman asked. He reached into his belt, and Jason nearly ran, but Batman pulled out bandages instead of knives. Still probably mad, but at least not immediately trying to kill him.

Jason shrugged and scuffed the toe of his shoe against the roof. He stopped when a piece of gravel wormed in through a hole in the side.

Batman ignored him for a moment as he set Jason’s hoodie aside, right next to him where Jason couldn’t grab it and make a run for it. He placed a large gauze pad over Robin’s wound, then wrapped it tightly with clean bandages.

Jason thought he was just going to take Robin and leave, but then he looked up at Jason again. “Where are your parents?”

Jason hesitated. It was obvious enough that he didn’t have any, though, or at least none worth shit, so he shook his head.

“I see,” Batman said, sounding a bit less grumbly.

“Can I go now?” Jason whispered so quietly he wasn’t even sure that Batman heard him.

Btu Batman had super-hearing, Jason had forgotten.

“…why don’t you come with us?” Batman offered.

Jason bit his lip. “I don’t want to go to foster care. Orphans get trafficked if the mob gets you.”

Batman shook his head. “Not to foster care. To our home.”

Jason froze. “W—what?”

Batman looked down at Robin, small and pale in his arms, but no longer in immediate danger of dying.

“You saved my son,” Batman said softly, “and you look hungry. I’d like to give you some dinner. And we can wash that jacket.”

Jason’s heart leaped in his chest. Dinner? _And_ saving the hoodie his mom got him? And…maybe a place to sleep for the night? It all sounded too good to be true.

“You’re…you’re not going to take me to the police, are you?” Jason pleaded.

Batman shook his head. “No, son.”

“And…are you really a vampire?”

Batman stared at him for a moment before chuckling. _Batman_. Chuckling. Oh, Jason should have run as soon as the bleeding had slowed. He was dead, and now Batman knew that he was onto him.

“No,” Batman laughed, “I’m not a vampire. I just want to help you.”

Jason hesitated. He _could_ be lying about any of that stuff, or maybe the truth was even worse, but…

Jason bent and retrieved his hoodie. He ran his fingers over the large bloodstain.

That would never come out once it dried, and even though the material was red, it would still look _bad._ Besides, it was DNA evidence of who Robin was, so Batman would probably take it anyway, so it was…it was okay if Jason went with him…right?

Jason clutched his hoodie to his chest, just in case Batman tried to snatch it, then nodded once, tightly. “O—okay.”

Batman smiled and stepped onto the fire escape. “Okay. Let’s go home.”


End file.
